In industries like Food & Beverage (F&B), Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), and traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, invoice validation remains a major bottleneck for finance teams. The reliance on manual processes not only slows down operations but also leads to costly errors, delayed vendor payments, and strained supplier relationships.
In this article, we’ll discuss challenges in invoice validation and how Smart Matching is transforming the scenario.
The Challenge: Manual Invoice Validation
Invoice validation is a critical yet time-consuming task for many businesses. Consider a multinational F&B franchise with over 200 outlets. Every day, vendor shipments arrive across multiple locations, requiring accounts payable (AP) teams to validate invoices meticulously. But behind the scenes, AP teams face inefficiencies that lead to frequent mismatches, delayed approvals, and even financial losses due to overpayments and fraud risks.
Traditionally, AP teams must manually verify critical invoice details, such as:
- Stamps
- Receiving dates
- Signatures
- Quantity and pricing of line items
- Applicable taxes
Any discrepancies require additional approvals, which can significantly delay payments and disrupt financial closing. On average, processing a single invoice takes 15 minutes, and for companies dealing with high invoice volumes, this adds up quickly.
For instance, at 10,000 invoices per month, AP teams spend over 313 man-days on invoice validation alone:
- Matching GRN, PO, and Bill details: 5 minutes
- Additional approvals for missing details: 10 minutes
- Total per invoice: 15 minutes
- Total for 10,000 invoices: 2,500 man-hours = 313 man-days
In a low-margin industry like an F&B franchise, these inefficiencies directly impact the bottom line, making every lost hour costly. Not to mention the risk of delayed payment jeopardizing vendor relationships or overpayments eating into margins.
The Solution: AI-Powered Smart Matching
To tackle these inefficiencies, companies are turning to Smart Matching, an AI-powered automation solution that streamlines invoice validation.
With Smart Matching, the system automatically:
- Extracts receiving dates and other details from scanned invoices
- Matches them against GRNs and POs
- Flags discrepancies in real-time
- Routes approvals dynamically based on the type of discrepancy
- Enables AP teams to send dispute emails to vendors with a few clicks
By automating these processes, Smart Matching significantly reduces the need for manual intervention, cutting down invoice validation time by 95%.
The Impact: Saving Time and Cutting Costs
By reducing manual effort, Smart Matching helps AP teams reclaim over 290 man-days per month:
- 95% time reduction on 313 man-days = 297 man-days saved
But the impact goes beyond just time savings. Automating invoice matching leads to 1-2% lower operational costs, translating to substantial financial benefits. For large enterprises processing over 250,000 invoices annually, this equates to $1-2 million in cost savings.
For finance leaders in F&B and other high-invoice-volume industries, the benefits of Smart Matching are undeniable:
- Faster invoice validation
- Fewer errors and discrepancies
- Timely vendor payments
- Reduced risk of fraud and overpayments
- Significant cost savings and improved efficiency
With automation transforming finance operations, Smart Matching isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about unlocking real cost savings and operational agility. How will your business leverage it to drive better financial outcomes?
